LUCKNOW GETS ITS FIRST WOMAN POLICE CHIEF

Lucknow: With the Akhilesh government appointing Ms Manzil Saini as the SSP of Lucknow on Monday, the state capital got its first woman police chief. She replaces Rajesh Pandey who has been attached to the DGP office.

Manzil Saini, a 2005 batch IPS officer, has served as police chief in Etawah and Mathura and is known as a tough officer in police circles with a no-nonsense attitude and ability to withstand political pressure.

She had cracked the notorious Amit Kumar kidney racket in 2008 and got her first brush with fame.

“It was like any other complaint from a small time labourer about the removal of his kidney two years ago. We were not aware that we were trailing a well-ensconced racket. When we conducted searches at places in Meerut and Gurgaon, the skeletons in the cupboard came tumbling out and with the arrest of (kingpin) Amit Kumar’s aide Upendra Kumar everything fell into place”, she revealed.

She was posted in Muzaffarnagar just before the riots began in 2013. She had also applied for a central deputation but the state government denied permission.